Kinetics of methylamine conversion on a Pd catalyst in the presence of H2

The kinetics of disproportionation of methylamine to dimethylamine and ammonia in the presence of hydrogen have been investigated over a silica-supported palladium catalyst. At a fixed partial pressure of methylamine, the reaction rate generally increases with decreasing hydrogen partial pressure, approaching a limiting or maximum value at sufficiently low pressures of hydrogen. The existence of a maximum is supported by the observation that the presence of some hydrogen appears to be necessary for the reaction to proceed at a conveniently measurable rate. At a fixed hydrogen partial pressure, the reaction rate increases with increasing methylamine partial pressure. When the methylamine partial pressure is sufficiently low or the hydrogen partial pressure is sufficiently high, the reaction order with respect to methylamine can be somewhat higher than one. At such conditions, a mechanism involving a bimolecular reaction between two partially dehydrogenated methylamine molecules on the surface appears to make a significant contribution to the overall catalytic reaction.